Kolkata: 2 killed in shooting, school principal held

Two persons were killed and one was injured after a school headmistress opened fire on a group of men who stormed her house in Kolkata in the wee hours of Monday.

The incident, suspected to be fallout of a land dispute, took place around 4.30am on Short Street, near Kolkata’s upscale Park Street area.

Those killed were identified by the police as Piklu Acharya, 26, and Prasenjit De, 28. The injured person was rushed topremier SSKM Hospital in the city.

Mamata Agarwal, the headmistress of a school, and Pappu, a security guard, opened fire after a group of about 15 men stormed the house, the police said. The guns used in the firing, apparently, were licensed.

The police arrested Pappu. Four others, including Agarwal, were detained.

The shooting site is barely 300 metres from a police station and the official residence of the Kolkata Police commissioner.

“The headmistress had a gun in her hand. CCTV footage shows that she had fired at the men. We are trying to find out whether those who barged into the house returned the fire,” Kolkata Police deputy commissioner Pallav Kanti Ghosh said.

There are allegations that two local businessmen want to grab the 17-cottah land (0.3 acres) — worth around R15-20 crore — on which the house was built. Agarwal is against selling the house.

“I had lodged complaints with the police. I kept getting threats. But no action was taken. Some people stormed my house on Monday morning. They tore my clothes and tried to throttle me,” Agarwal told a TV channel after the incident.